Skills or Beliefs: Which Matters Most to Your Business?

Skills or beliefs; this may well be another example of the age-old “chicken or the egg” dilemna. I tend to side more strongly with beliefs. I’ll give you a story to illustrate why.

I’ve always admired eagles. They’re graceful predators that command the skies…usually. But how many times have you witnessed a situation like this?

One day I was watching a mating pair of eagles circling overhead. I was in awe of their grace, beauty and strength. Then I noticed two other much smaller birds, sparrows perhaps, giving chase.

The sparrows circled quickly, dove at the eagles’ heads, then rose quickly to circle again and make another dive. Over and over. The eagles managed maneuver after maneuver to evade the attacks by the sparrows. Gradually the eagles moved off, finally disappearing into the distance. The sparrows returned to their nest and eggs or babies (no doubt).

What just happened? Because sparrows are smaller and more agile than hawks, and can more easily position themselves for attack, their self-confidence is strong. Because sparrows are less fragile than hawks, and do not fear feather damage to the same degree, their self-confidence is strong. Because sparrows are quicker than hawks, so they can more easily retreat if they have to, their self-confidence is strong. And because their need was greater, they succeeded.

I’m not saying skill isn’t important. If those sparrows didn’t know how to fly, or didn’t know how to use their physical advantages, they wouldn’t have succeeded. But I do believe that the deciding factors were self-confidence born of skill and knowing their advantages, and need derived from the instinct to protect their young.

How does this translate to business? You must be HUNGRY to succeed, you must be CONFIDENT that you will, and you must have the SKILLS to apply with this DRIVE.

No one is born with business skills. Internet millionaire-ism isn’t genetic. Read everything you can get your hands on; find someone who’s been there, done that and follow where s/he leads; find a company, program, or system that is ethical, honest, and works, and STICK WITH IT as if your life depended on it.